Hot Damn
by Mark of Distinction
Summary: An epic retelling of the Burning Passion, Leader Flannery, and this other guy. Semi-OC involved, given that Ruby basically has no personality in the games, but he exists. Mild romance, no sexytimes, but there is slight language. Very slight.


Alright, everyone, at long, long, LOOOONG last I'm actually posting something here! It's been forever and a half since I've done a romantic fanfic, so here's my cementing my identity as a RedRedShipper, or for those of you playing the home game, a Ruby/Flannery shipper. Enjoy, read, review, you all know the drill. Oh. And I don't own any characters within except for my twisted, twisted fan versions of them. Sorry, Nintendo.

Flannery paced the warm floor of her Gym, trying desperately for a good one-liner. So far, her search had been unsuccessful. "Holy Gym floor, Golbatman!" she exclaimed triumphantly before slamming her head against the wall. "Let's try that again." The flaming redhead returned to wearing a rut in the floor tiles. "There's gotta be something cool I can say. All the other Leaders have this really epic pre-battle thing that they can do…" Flannery muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't think in all this steam!" Despite being used to the humid atmosphere of the Lavaridge Town Gym, she still felt oppressed by the thick fog that hung in the air. At least she could be in here without sweating swimming pools. "Yeah, that's all I need. To be smell horrible AND sound like a newbie."

Her frantic musings were interrupted by a mild explosion at the end of the room she was in. Flannery barely batted an eyelash, despite being equal parts apprehensive and eager. Her latest challenger arrived in the usual whorl of steam, smoke, and ash, coughing violently as he shot up through the floor. The first thing she noticed was his hair. At first she thought it was white, but the black strands poking out from beneath the red headband gave away the nature of his hat. The second thing she- "Hot damn!" she whispered in awe, a bit louder than she would have liked. She immediately flushed the color of her hair. This challenger was…different. 'Different in that I don't know whether to battle him or pin him to the wall,' Flannery thought to herself. The Gym Leader was taken slightly aback by this thought, but stood as confidently as someone possible facing down God's gift to women with nothing to say could stand.

This challenger stepped into the ring, looking immediately at the floor and walls. 'Smart, too…he knows his battle tactics,' Flannery mused. "Ruby, right?" she asked. He just nodded. Clearing her throat, she prepared for something. 'Here goes nothing,' she prayed, and launched into her speech. "Welcome! No, wait…" she silently cursed herself for mixing it up. "Puny Trainer, how good to see you've made it here! I have been entrusted with the...Uh, wait a sec…" She didn't want to sound conceited, but…'Oh I know!' she thought excitedly. "I am Flannery, and I'm the Gym Leader here! Uh... Dare not underestimate me, though I have been Leader only a short time! With skills inherited from my grandfather, I shall, uh...demonstrate the hot moves we have honed on this land!" This Ruby didn't look intimidated…just confused. 'Stupid stupid stupid…' she thought, mentally beating herself as she chose her first Pokémon.

"Let's do this, Numel!" The small camel-like Pokémon resolved from the flare of red light generated from the Poke Ball, spewing a spray of sparks and smoke from the volcano in its hump. Flannery looked for Ruby for a reaction. Admirably cool and collected, he tossed out his own Ball, which released a Wingull. "Crap," the redhead muttered. Not only would this bird be immune to Magnitude, Numel's bread and butter, but Ember would suck against it. "That leaves Smokescreen and…heh." She smirked. "Numel, Rock Throw!" The little camel shot a barrage of red-hot rocks upward straight at the oncoming Wingull, whose burst of water thankfully missed by a yard. Sent pinwheeling by the hit, the gull gave a sharp squawk and landed near Ruby, who knelt down to administer something yellow and red to it "Ooh that little cheat!" Flannery complained. "Super Potions? Come on…Rock Throw it again, Numel!" The second blow landed straight on once more, but this time Wingull managed to douse the Fire/Ground type Numel with a Water Gun. The attacks launched both Pokémon back several feet, but Numel seemed to have come out the worse for it. "I don't think so! Smokescreen and Rock Throw!" 'Heh,' she thought, 'that bird-brain won't be able to see a thing!' But for some reason, though the attack did land, the Wingull wasn't affected by the smoke. "What the- Keen Eye…" Flannery groaned. It wasn't good to be making this kind of mistakes. The Wingull, however, missed Numel, and careened into the ground in a faint.

Twenty minutes later, the battle wasn't going so smoothly. Her Slugma and Camerupt had both bit the dust, though they took five of Ruby's Pokémon down between them. Now it was down to brass tacks, with Ruby's Combusken against her Torkoal. So far it wasn't so great of a match-up, with both Fire-types unable to land a decisive blow. "Torkoal," she yelled in frustration, "hit it with a Body Slam!" The flaming turtle's furnace-like shell glowed bright orange and it rocketed forward with surprising alacrity, smashing headlong into the other Pokémon. 'Yes!' she silently cheered as his Combusken staggered backwards. She barely heard the attack before it came. "Sky What-cut?" she said numbly as her Torkoal was shot skywards by a crushing punch. Before it even came back down she knew it had fainted. Sighing, she returned it to its ball, drawing out a small piece of slightly warm metal from a case in her pocket.

Ruby drew nearer, and now she saw that he looked exhausted. His face was shiny with sweat and more black hair had snuck out from underneath the red and white headgear. He looked up at her- Had he been that short earlier?- and gave a weary half-smile that still somehow made her stomach dance a jig. Flannery sighed heavily and smiled back, feeling somehow very small despite looking down at Ruby. "I guess I was trying too hard... I... I've only recently become a Gym Leader. I tried too hard to be someone I'm not. I have to do things my natural way. If I don't, I won't be able to go all-out…Thanks for teaching me that. Here, you've earned this." She held out the Heat Badge to him, which he took slowly, still looking up at her. "Thanks," he said, "But I just battled, that's all." A small giggle escaped her lips. "Yeah, I guess so." The smile faded from his face and he looked thoughtful. "Listen…Why don't we go and get some lunch or something? Later, because right now I smell like wet Poochyena. But I can maybe teach you some other things." The smile returned. "Couple hours sound good to you?" "Couple hours," she repeated, slightly dumbstruck. "Good. I'll see you there!" And with that he was gone.

It only occurred to her when she was in the shower, a fresh set of clothes sitting nearby on her bed, that she had just been asked out on a date by someone who totally handed her ass to her in a battle. "Hot damn," Flannery giggled, a grin spreading across her face as fog spread across the mirror.


End file.
